West Virginia University has been in negotiations with the Big East this week on a large buyout that would allow the Mountaineers to join the Big 12 next fall for the start of football season, and could cause another flurry of conference realignment dominos to fall. West Virginia's move would leave the Big East short a team, and could spur Boise State to vacate the Mountain West and begin competing in the Big East in 2012.
Reportedly, WVU has reached a $20 million verbal agreement with the Big East, with West Virginia paying $11 million of the buyout and the Big 12 picking up the other $9 million. CBS Sports reports that the West Virginia buyout could become official as soon as today.
With Missouri sealing the deal to participate in SEC football next fall, the Big 12 needed to do everything in its power to expedite West Virginia's entrance, in order to fill the Big 12 football schedule for next season. And with the Mountaineers on the move, the Big East will now likely be trying to fill its vacant spot for next season, and Boise State looks like a logical candidate to move.
The Broncos are pledged to the Mountain West for 2012, but with the $20 million windfall the Big East is collecting, Boise probably wouldn't have to twist the arm of the Big East too far to get the league to pay the bulk of the costs to buy Boise State out of the Mountain West. The Idaho Statesman estimates that Boise State's MWC buyout costs would be between $7.5 and $9 million.
We can then wonder what might become of the Mountain West should it lose the Broncos so soon. Chances are, the Mountain West, as it currently exists, isn't long for this world -- which is a shame because it's been a wonderful, if undernoticed, athetic league the past ten years. As the dust continues to settle on the more powerful conferences, we'll probably see some sort of alliance between the Mountain West and Conference USA.
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[Big East, WVU reach $20M settlement]
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